Looking to get into astronomy

Welome Daveo.
Goto this link www.skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn0601.pdf and print out the skymap (this one is for janruary2006) make a note of where the sun sets (west, you probably knew this anyway) just to orientate yourself and have a look around with your naked eye.

When you are confident of you way around the sky, then pair of binoculars (10X50 or 7X50) is a good next step, maybe you may even know of someone with a pair hanging around somewhere that you can borrow.

Beware of the sun with binoculars or telescopes, it will cause permanent damage to your eyes.

Join a local club, list avaliable on the www.irishastronomy.org main page.

Enjoy yourself, there is a lot up there.

but as it is I'm not exactly loaded (college student )!

Have you thought about joining, or even starting up an astronomy society in college?

From my experience in college (UCD) you needed to get 50 people signed up for an accademically related society in order to qualify for financial grants from the college. Applying for a 700 euro or so grant to get a decent dobsonian would be reasonable for a budding astronomical society. UCD used to fork out thousands for some societies I was involved with.

voyager, our webmaster here, is involved with the society in maynooth, and the folks in DCU astronomy society log in occasionally here too. They may be able to give some advice if you want to explore that route more.

Cheers,
~Al

but as it is I'm not exactly loaded (college student )!

Have you thought about joining, or even starting up an astronomy society in college?

From my experience in college (UCD) you needed to get 50 people signed up for an accademically related society in order to qualify for financial grants from the college. Applying for a 700 euro or so grant to get a decent dobsonian would be reasonable for a budding astronomical society. UCD used to fork out thousands for some societies I was involved with.

voyager, our webmaster here, is involved with the society in maynooth, and the folks in DCU astronomy society log in occasionally here too. They may be able to give some advice if you want to explore that route more.

Cheers,
~Al

Beeing one of the founding members of Astro2 (the Astronomy & Physics Society of NUIM) I can tell you that it's very rewarding to set up a society and see it grow and develope. I'd be delighted to try answer any questions you may have or give advice on any issues you may face.

Bart.

Daveo
welcome to the boards! I hope you can take what is being said as being sound advice, and not to be afraid to ask for more!

Another suggestion I would make to you is a very cheap, but productively viable one in terms of goals that can be achieved. If you cast your memory back to a couple of weeks before Christmas, Lidl sold the SkyLux 70mm, and Meade ETX-70 refractor telescopes.

Having one of each, I recommened trying to get your hands on the Skylux. It is operated by hand, has no computer parts, completely inexpensive, and at around €70, will give you slightly more magnified views of celestial objects that a similar magnification set of binocuars would give, but for more money.

But 1 slight hicup I will draw your attention to beforehand - it is on an equatorial mount that will need about 20 minutes after initial setup to get used to handling (practice wil easily become perfection in its use). The scope itself can be made small, is portable, and despite its size, will have you amazed at what it can pick up - even if the eyepieces that come with it are not among the worlds recommended best!

Check out the Buy and Sell perhaps to see if anyone is selling one. If you do go down this route, make sure to have a look at it before purchasing it, as there is no guarantee after it has left the seller.

Seanie.

And I (and many others) can attest to value for money that the Skylux offers. Perfect for the beginner/part-time/low budget observer (about sums me up!)

If you really want to get a scope, then the skylux is a good start, it'll show you the moon, some planets, binary stars, and a number of brighter deep sky objects, just make sure you know what to expect when you look through it, dont expect hubble space telescope views of the orion nebula.
To avoid a costly mistake try and find someone with a scope and get a look through it.

Try get a planisphere, its cheap and a great aid for learning the constellations, binoculars are also highly recommended.
welcome aboard!